Nanjing Road is the official name of the main road. When the British and French allied forces won the Opium War, in order to commemorate the huge benefits brought to the country by the Treaty of Nanjing, the British Concession named the main road Nanjing Road.
However, no one pays attention to the so-called official names. People are still accustomed to the previous names, such as the main road, the second road, the third road, the fourth road, the fifth road, the sixth road, etc.
The popular Shili Foreign Market actually refers to the area around the main road.
Xianshi, Yongan, Xinxin, and Daxin are the four largest department stores in Shanghai, all located on Main Road.
There are also many other famous stores, such as China Domestic Products Company, Lao Deji, Watsons, Lao Fengxiang, Hendali, Zhang Xiaoquan, Maochang, Shao Wansheng, etc. There are no less than a hundred specialty stores.
Among the rows of shops, there is also a well-preserved Five Saints Temple, opposite the Yipotchun Tea House.
At this time, a group of well-dressed foreigners were walking slowly along the road amidst the sound of reporters clicking their camera shutters.
The leader was a man about fifty years old, with a striking beard, gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, and a shining golden stick in his hand. He looked very arrogant.
He is Sir Edrich. Today, the League of Nations observer delegation, accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the Concession, specially came to experience the prosperity of the Concession.
The foreign reporter on the side asked: "Sir Edrich, what is your impression of Shanghai?"
Edrich thought for a while and said: "I think Shanghai's modernization level is even more advanced than London. Therefore, I still want to emphasize the value and significance of the existence of the British and French concessions. We have brought civilization and advanced management models
, to a certain extent, promoted the economic development of Shanghai. You might as well imagine, if there were no British and French concessions, would Shanghai still be what it is today?"
The reporter continued to ask: "On the Northeast issue, you seem to be contrary to the opinions of the National Government. Does this mean that you support the so-called Manchukuo?"
"Mr. Reporter, please remove the word so-called. Don't you think it's rare that Manchukuo is already a fait accompli?"
"Excuse me? Is this your personal opinion or the opinion of the League of Nations?"
"Well, this is my personal opinion for the time being..."
Let’s talk about it? The group of people arrived near the Five Saints Temple.
"Is that an antique shop?" Edrich raised the golden civilization stick and pointed it in the direction of the Five Saints Temple.
The escort explained: "That's not an antique shop, but a temple."
"Oh? I see, this is where the clergy live? It's like being jealous of the church."
"No, no, no? You misunderstood. According to Chinese myths and legends, the Five Saints Temple enshrines not gods, but five bad guys who committed the most heinous crimes."
“Why worship bad people?”
"Well, I don't know the specific reason..."
Edrich was very interested in the Temple of the Five Saints and was very excited to visit the statues of the five bad guys.
There was a Ford sedan parked on the street? Is Xu Siqi sitting in the car? He heard that the League of Nations observer group visited the main road, so he drove over specially.
In order to ensure the safety of the League of Nations observation team, plainclothes patrols were scattered near the main road, and uniformed patrols basically patrolled every ten minutes. Xu Siqi, as a Chinese police detective? Of course, he had to put on a show.
Seeing the observation group enter the Five Saints Temple, Xu Siqi lit a cigarette? He looked around out of habit and happened to see Fang Yongyan entering the Pot of Spring Tea House.
"Why is he here?"
Xu Siqi immediately cheered up and observed the surrounding situation vigilantly.
He knew very well in his heart that Fang Yongyan would not come to the teahouse without a chance. In all likelihood, it was to meet his comrades? Since he had caught up, why did he have to temporarily take charge of the security mission?
Soon, two men in front of a street newsstand caught Xu Siqi's attention.
The reason why they caught Xu Siqi's attention was because of their attire, royal blue double-breasted silk shirts, which were baggy and looked like they were borrowed.
The two men were both around thirty years old. One had a straight face and the other had a square face. They were flipping through the magazines in their hands and looking towards the direction of the Five Saints Temple intentionally or unintentionally.
Xu Siqi thought for a moment, opened the door and got out of the car, walked to the newsstand, picked up a magazine, flipped through it a few times, and said, "Boss, has the latest Liangyou Pictorial arrived?"
The boss said: "Not yet, it won't be delivered until around three o'clock in the afternoon."
"Oh, I'll come back later."
"OK."
Xu Siqi turned around and accidentally stepped on the square-faced man's foot, then quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Dao Tiao Lian stretched out his hand and pulled Sifang Fang. Sifang Fang, who was about to get angry, calmed down. He glared at Xu Siqi fiercely and said, "Look at these new shoes I bought!"
Xu Siqi apologized repeatedly and walked towards the other side of the street.
Sun Jian, who had just been in contact with Sifang Face, and Xu Siqi used extremely concealed movements to touch the pistol in his waist. Judging from the shape of the gun, it should be a Mauser C96 pistol.
As the most well-known pistol in China, the C96 has many aliases, such as box gun, twenty-gun, box gun, shell gun, speed machine, etc.
Due to the arms embargo regulations at that time, the Nationalist Government purchased a large number of C96 pistols. As long as the gun stock is attached, the firepower of this gun is comparable to a semi-automatic rifle.
Because of this, the Chinese army has many strange units such as pistol regiments and pistol brigades.
Agents rarely carry this type of weapon, mainly because the gun body is too large. It is better in winter, and the gun can be hidden in a coat.
Now that we have entered May, the weather is gradually getting hotter. The two men deliberately wore baggy clothes just to make it easier to carry guns.
The standard weapons of the National Government agents, except for a few who use Colt pistols, are basically small and exquisite Browning pistols.
Based on this, Xu Siqi judged that they were definitely not agents of the National Government.
The Communist Party is even less likely. Fang Yongyan is mainly responsible for intelligence work. His appearance on the road is definitely not on an operational mission.
Moreover, even if comrades responsible for guarding are arranged, it is impossible to carry guns. This is purely causing trouble for themselves.
If they are neither the Kuomintang nor the Communist Party, then who are they?
Xu Siqi observed carefully for a while and soon got the answer. These two people came for the League of Nations observer group, and their eyes never left Edrich.
Xu Siqi was in a dilemma. According to theory, these two people should be arrested immediately, otherwise if a shot was fired and someone from the League of Nations observation team was injured, his responsibility would be too great.
The question is, Fang Yongyan is at Yipotchun Tea House, obviously waiting to meet with his people. If he arrests people here, will it have any impact on Fang Yongyan and the comrades who come to meet...